By 2022, 37% of Indian workforce would be in jobs demanding radically different skill sets

The report ‘Future of Skills and Jobs in India’ states that 9% of the workforce would be deployed in new jobs that do not exist today.

FICCI and NASSCOM had jointly commissioned a report on ‘Future of Skills and Jobs in India’ with EY. The report was today unveiled at FICCI’s flagship event, ‘Global Skills Summit’, which provides a sneak-peak into the future of jobs and vision of change for the job market in India by 2022. The report highlights the impact that various primary forces such as globalization, demographics, and Industry 4.0/exponential technologies, are expected to have on the key sectors of the economy. It also provides an overview of the job creation rates across various sectors and the new jobs that will emerge in the next few years.

The internet and exponential technologies are creating new employment opportunities in the areas of ‘white-collar’ working also known as gig economy (includes online labour - software developers, creative and multimedia professionals, online sales and marketing professionals, writers, translators and data entry operators) and India is the leading country, with a 24% share of the online labor market. Other areas of job opportunities include technology aggregator models, e-commerce segment and tech start-ups with new business models.

In India, the future of jobs in 2022 would be determined by the country’s response to 12 megatrends which includes, under globalization - the level of exports, rapid adoption of exponential technologies, increasing/shrinking overseas job market for Indian workforce and level of FDI flows. Under adoption of exponential technologies by Indian companies - evolution of products/services into smart connected products and services, acceleration of the optimization of industry value chains, business innovation, demand for a resourceful planet and sustainability and new work arrangements. Lastly, under demographic changes - rising size of the middle-class, high proportion of young population including millennials and increasing urbanization.

As per the report, in the organized IT/BPM sector, 60-65% of the workforce would be deployed in jobs that have radically changed skill sets (projected for 2020) and some examples of the future job roles in the IT/BPM sector includes VFX Artist, Computer Vision Engineer, Wireless Network Specialist, Embedded System Programmer, Data Scientist, Data Architect, AI Research Scientist to name a few. Similarly in automotive sector, 50-55% of the workforce would be deployed in jobs that have radically changed skill sets (projected for 2020) and the evolving job roles include Automobile Analytics Engineer, 3D Printing Technician, Machine Learning Based, Vehicle Cybersecurity Expert, and Sustainability Integration Expert. Such new jobs roles are also expected in the Textile & Apparel, BFSI and Retail sector.

Dr. Sanjaya Baru, Secretary General, FICCI, said, “Since there is no India based empirical study which highlights the impact of advanced technologies on key manufacturing and services sectors that create the bulk of jobs and contributes majorly towards GDP, FICCI and NASSCOM initiated the study on ‘Future of Jobs’ with EY. The report examines the global megatrends, its impact on Indian economy and recommends the way forward.”

Mr. Mohandas Pai, Chairman, FICCI Skill Development Committee & Chairman Manipal Global Education, said that there was an urgent need to collate and analyze data to understand in which sectors jobs were being created, what were the skills that were needed by industries and employers, and how productivity could be enhanced with re-skilling of workforce.

Mr. R. Chandrashekhar, NASSCOM, said, “The report attempts to present a 2022 picture – a time when no one can afford to “rest on one’s laurels” but needs a continuous learning culture. Another important fact being seen is that non-tech firms are increasingly emerging as the source of information technology roles; for eg. automotive, aerospace, BFSI, telecom, retail, healthcare, etc.”

Anurag Malik, Partner - People & Organization, Advisory Services, EY, says, said, “In this rapidly changing job landscape, adoption of exponential technologies by industries has become the need of the hour to create new jobs in India. There is only one way to respond to this level of digital disruption – and that is to embrace it. Government of India’s ‘Skill India' mission and key programs like ‘Make in India’ and ‘Startup India’ will help accelerate job creation and support the existing and future workforce to be ready for the future job roles in India and reap the success in the new world.”